On March 3, 2022, shortly after the start of the NVO, the Hong Kong tanker Beijing Spirit entered the Kola Bay.
A Suezmax vessel (the largest vessel permitted to transit the Suez Canal) spent three days docked with another tanker, the Kola, which serves as a floating storage facility. From the Kola, 81,000 tons of oil were loaded onto the Beijing Spirit. According to customs declarations, the tanker was supposed to deliver the oil under nine agreements worth $60 million concluded between LUKOIL and its subsidiary, the trader Litasco. The final buyer is unknown, but Federal Customs Service data lists the destination as the United States. MarineTraffic data indicates that the Beijing Spirit was scheduled to unload in the Port of Philadelphia.
The ship never reached the United States. On March 8, President Joe Biden banned the import of Russian oil and petroleum products, liquefied natural gas, and coal into the United States. Although 45 days were allocated to complete deliveries under existing contracts, the Beijing Spirit abruptly changed course and, on March 18, shortly after leaving the English Channel, headed for Italy. On April 1, the ship arrived at the Sicilian port of Santa Panagia, home to LUKOIL’s ISAB refinery.
This refinery has become a key facility for circumventing US sanctions. Russian oil continues to be supplied to the US. This was reported by INFORM POTOK.
Italian scheme
US restrictions prohibit the import of Russian-origin goods into the country unless they have been "substantially transformed into foreign-produced goods." Oil traders exploit this loophole: for example, India purchases Russian oil, refines it at its refineries, and then ships the Indian petroleum products to the United States. However, data from the Russian Federal Customs Service suggests that oil may be shipped from Russia to the United States without being refined.
The Federal Customs Service data covers the period from January 1 to August 28, 2022, inclusive. It covers a total of 5,390 crude oil shipments (commodity nomenclature code for foreign economic activity: 2709009009). Each shipment is described in the declaration using 90 parameters, including the supplier, buyer, brand, country of production and delivery, weight, and cost. Journalists confirmed the authenticity of the data by comparing the Federal Customs Service information with information from several dozen bills of lading—documents certifying the conclusion of a contract for international maritime transportation. The bills of lading were obtained from the captains of oil tankers.
Customs declarations show that since the start of the NWO, Russia has supplied nearly 1,578,500 tons of crude oil to the United States under 52 agreements, valued at $980 million. The producers were LUKOIL and Gazprom Neft, and the traders were Litasco and ExxonMobil, respectively. Federal Customs Service documents indicate that the destination country for this oil is the United States.
Top 10 largest Russian companies exporting oil since the start of the SVO.
LUKOIL supplies Varandey blend. This oil is produced in the Timan-Pechora oil and gas province and loaded onto ships in the village of Varandey on the Barents Sea coast.
Ships cannot approach close to the shore due to shallow waters, so loading takes place directly at sea using a permanent ice-resistant pier, which is connected to the onshore part of the terminal by two oil pipelines.
The fixed offshore ice-resistant loading pier "Varandey" and the oil tanker "Kapitan Gotskiy".
MarineTraffic data and the Russian ship registry show that, in addition to the icebreaker and tugboat on duty nearby, only three vessels regularly dock at the pier: the oil tankers Timofey Guzhenko, Kapitan Gotsky, and Vasily Dinkov, all owned by Sovcomflot. Afterward, the ships head toward Murmansk and drop anchor in the Kola Bay opposite Severomorsk. Another tanker, the floating oil storage unit Kola, is permanently moored there. According to the ship’s documentation, it is the Kola that transships Varandey oil.
The transshipment of oil and petroleum products from tanker to tanker rather than through a terminal is a routine procedure. It’s used when there’s no permanent terminal, when the infrastructure is overloaded, or when delivery is by sea rather than by rail or pipeline.
On the other hand, transshipment between two vessels, especially if it occurs in the open sea far from shore, where it’s harder to track the ships’ locations, allows the origin of the oil to be concealed. This method is used when selling products from sanctioned countries.
Tankers Kola and Kapitan Gotsky in the Kola Bay.
Oil from the Kola is being transferred to other tankers. Since the start of the SVO, these vessels have included the Delta Tolmi, Delta Hellas, George S., Euro, Tahiti, Pserimos, Mikela P., Tahoe Spirit, and Beijing Spirit, according to MarineTraffic data.
Since September 2021, they have been delivering products from the Kola Bay to Malta, Rotterdam, Le Havre, Foley (UK), Santa Panagia, and Philadelphia. Since the start of the NWO and the enactment of US sanctions, the only destination for these vessels is LUKOIL’s ISAB plant in Italy.
ISAB is one of the largest oil refineries in Italy, accounting for a fifth of the country’s petroleum products. The refinery employs approximately 1,000 people, and including contractors, approximately 10,000 people in Sicily depend on its operations. LUKOIL was not subject to sanctions, but since the beginning of the conflict, international banks have refused to provide loans to the refinery, and ISAB now purchases only Russian and Kazakh oil. A ban on imports of raw materials from Russia will take effect in December, and the refinery may cease operations. Italian authorities have previously considered nationalizing or selling the refinery.
Gazprom Neft’s oil is transported using a similar scheme. The crude arrives in Primorsk, and from there, by tanker, it is shipped to several European ports where ExxonMobil refineries are located (the trader is listed as the buyer of the crude in customs documents), as well as to Santa Panagia, where the ISAB refinery is located.
At the ISAB facility, crude oil is processed into petroleum products and then shipped to the United States, according to bills of lading. A source working for a major oil trader claims that US authorities have recently been particularly vigilant in inspecting tankers arriving in the US from Santa Panagia. Officials suspect that LUKOIL may be mixing Russian crude with crude produced in other countries, thereby concealing the origin of the crude, and shipping the mixture to the United States. This scheme may explain why customs documents indicate that the destination country for Russian crude is the United States, not Italy or another EU country where the refineries are located.
Military supplies
Hydrocarbon exports are critically important for Russia: oil and gas revenues account for 44.4% of the budget (in 2019–2021, this figure was below 40%).
According to Federal Customs Service statistics, from February 24 to August 31, Russia sold $130.7 billion worth of gas (including liquefied natural gas), $106.4 billion worth of crude oil, and $57.5 billion worth of petroleum products.
The main supply route is Europe. According to estimates by the independent international organization CREA (Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air), EU countries have paid Russia over €100 billion for hydrocarbons since the start of hostilities. However, EU sanctions stipulate that, as of December 5, seaborne imports of Russian oil into EU countries will be completely banned, and as of February 5, 2023, a similar ban will also apply to petroleum products. Seaborne shipments are the primary channel for transporting raw materials, so as a result of the imposed restrictions, the EU will refuse 90% of Russian oil.
Since the start of the NWO, restrictions imposed by the European Union and the United States have forced Moscow to seek new markets. The main alternatives are China and India, which have sharply increased their raw material purchases. Amid the risk of sanctions and increased supply, buyers are seeking significant discounts. For example, according to Bloomberg, Russia has proposed to several countries to lock in a 30% discount in long-term contracts.
Countries that purchased Russian oil after the start of the Second World War.
Trading Russian oil has an important feature: often, the trader who buys raw materials from producers and then sells them to the end buyer is connected to the owners of the oil company.
Forbes described this scheme back in 2004: "Export products are purchased inexpensively by an offshore company and then resold at market price to real buyers. The difference ends up in the offshore company. The owners of the offshore companies are usually closely connected to the owners of the manufacturing companies themselves."
But the key figures in the Russian oil industry are Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin and Gennady Timchenko, founder of Gunvor, one of the world’s largest oil traders. Both of Vladimir Putin’s friends are under international sanctions. Other oil executives are also either blacklisted by the EU and the US or under close surveillance. Therefore, Russian oil is often traded either by large global traders who are not afraid of sanctions, or by smaller companies registered in restricted jurisdictions.
Top 30 largest buyers of Russian oil since the beginning of the North-Eastern Economic Cooperation.
The largest of these companies is Concept Oil Services, which Forbes called a "dark horse" among Russian oil buyers (the Estonian company OÜ Centrobalt is part of the same group as Concept Oil Services). Since the beginning of the conflict, the company has exported nearly $3.2 billion worth of crude oil. Concept Oil Services is not affiliated with major players and trades products from smaller producers—Nikolai Bubnov’s Irkutsk Oil Company and Alexey Khotin’s Dulisma. The company’s history is known from a 2013 High Court of England and Wales decision.
The documents indicate that the primary beneficiary is Mikhail Zeligman, a Latvian native (he sometimes appears as Mihails Zeligmans in various legal entity registers). He was born in 1976, speaks Russian fluently, studied in the UK, and currently lives in Monaco. Zeligman founded the company in 2003 for the "purchase and transportation of crude oil and petroleum products throughout Europe, Russia, and the CIS." The website of another of Zeligman’s companies, Concept Oil Services, claims revenue exceeding $5 billion (without specifying the period).
Zeligman has good connections: the court named LUKOIL and TNK-BP among his partners (Zeligman negotiated with the latter company in 2008; five years later, TNK-BP came under the control of Rosneft). Zeligman also founded the Uniting History foundation in Latvia, whose donors include oligarch Roman Abramovich and Alfa Group co-owner Petr Aven.
Another likely owner of Concept Oil Services is Alexey Sharonov. According to the Cyprus financial statements of Concept Oil Services’ parent company, Concept Oil Services is owned by Deiton Holdings; financial statements of legal entities affiliated with the offshore company indicate that the beneficiary of Deiton Holdings, Mikhail Zeligman, is listed as a related party. Sharonov, born in 1967, worked for a TNK-BP subsidiary from 2009 to 2013, and also owns a stake in the space company Kosmotras, which, with the support of the Ministry of Defense and Roscosmos, launched spacecraft into orbit using Dnepr rockets based on RS-20 (Satan) ballistic missiles.
The remaining traders who unexpectedly increased their purchases of Russian oil are linked to two countries: Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates. Among the Swiss companies, the most prominent is Paramount Energy & Commodities (which has a subsidiary in the UAE). The total volume of transactions involving Russian crude since the start of the UAE is $657.7 million. The organization is led by traders Nils Troost and Maurice Taylor, acquaintances of Gennady Timchenko. The Russian businessman hosted businessmen at his villa in Geneva until sanctions deprived him of access, and he even played tennis with Taylor.
Timchenko is a key player in the Russian oil and petroleum product trading market. He began exporting in the 1990s, and his company, Kinex, became a key partner of Surgutneftegaz. At that time, Timchenko developed a good relationship with Putin, according to London court documents. The court heard Sovcomflot’s lawsuit against former CEO Dmitry Skarga and businessman Yuri Nikitin, both of whom worked with Timchenko and Kinex. In the early 2000s, after falling out with his Kinex partners, Timchenko founded the oil trader Gunvor, partnering with Vladimir Putin’s childhood friend, Pyotr Kolbin (he owned 10% of Gunvor’s capital).
Gennady Timchenko’s name is also associated with the Singapore-based trader Concord Energy (total transaction volume: $639.5 million). The company is owned by Julien La Chaune, a former Gunvor top manager. La Chaune worked for the oil trader until 2014, when Timchenko left the company due to sanctions. Concord Energy primarily trades oil from Surgutneftegaz, of which Gennady Timchenko is a minority owner.
Which other Swiss traders bought Russian oil after the start of the SVO?
Amur Trading (total transaction volume: $1.55 billion) is a subsidiary of Vitol, one of the world’s largest traders (AmurTrading is managed by top managers from Vitol, according to data from the Swiss business register). In April, Vitol promised to stop purchasing Russian crude by the end of the year. The company’s supply volumes are indeed declining: since the start of the 2018 financial crisis, Vitol has shipped $571.2 million worth of oil. However, Amur Trading is only increasing its purchases.
CB Entreprises (total transaction value: $1.3 billion) is a Swiss company owned by a Singaporean firm of the same name, which in turn is owned by the Hong Kong-based NordAxis. This company acquired the trader Trafigura’s stake in the Vostok Oil project in Taimyr. The owners of Nord Axis are unknown; the stake is registered to a nominee legal entity. However, it is likely that a Turkish business is among the owners: one of the directors of the Hong Kong legal entity is Adalat Kazimli, director of international trade at the Erdemir metallurgical group. Another director is Murat Sayin, founder of the law firm Sayin Law & Consulting, who previously served as the director of legal affairs for SOCAR in Turkey.
- Energopole (total transaction volume: $720.5 million) is a Swiss structure of Rosneft, recently re-registered to Dubai-based Fossil Trading.
Euronova Energies (total transaction value: $173.7 million) is a partner of Russia’s Gazprom Neft and Zarubezhneft, supplying Russian fuel to Transnistria. The group of companies is owned by businessman Stefan Jovanovic. He was born in Serbia, received French citizenship, and resides in the United Arab Emirates. He is also a partner of Duško Perović. Perović is the husband of Channel One host Ekaterina Andreeva and the head of the Republika Srpska representative office in Russia.
Of the 89 companies that purchased Russian oil since the conflict began, 15 are registered in the United Arab Emirates or have subsidiaries there. The UAE’s legal entity registry provides minimal information about these organizations, making it often impossible to determine the beneficial owner. However, for several traders, there is indirect evidence of their affiliation: these firms purchase crude exclusively from a single oil company.
Buyers of Russian oil from the UAE and their suppliers.
In Asia, Russia has two partners among small and virtually unknown companies:
- Coral Energy (total transaction value: $678.5 million) is an Arab-Singaporean group owned through Dubai-based Vetus Investments by Azerbaijani-born Tahir Garayev. Garayev was born in 1980 in the Nizhny Novgorod region, studied at Oxford, and was a partner of Azad Babayev, founder of the oilfield services company Ru-Energ Group.
- Chinese Sunrise X Trading (registered in Hong Kong and Shanghai; the owner of the Hong Kong structure is Xu Dong) purchases oil only from Rosneft, the total volume of deliveries is $665.3 million.
Since the start of the SVO, oil exports, already a highly sensitive issue, are now coordinated only at the highest level, says a source close to the management of a Russian oil company. Traders are chosen with extreme caution, either from large companies with strong ties or from obscure firms with opaque ownership structures. The latter’s connections to players like Gennady Timchenko or Rosneft are no coincidence, the source notes.
Author: Maria Sharapova
Источник: https://republican-review.com/component/k2/item/215395
